Sylvia Call, Disability Studies
Faculty: Erik Luvaas
Sylvia Call began her career working as a high school English teacher, and she moved into the world of Early Intervention and autism therapies when her son received a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and hyperlexia. She has served in the role of Autism Services Director for the past two years. I am working in the autism spectrum disorder and Related Developmental Disabilities
Doctoral Program, and this is my initial semester within the program. I am interested in focusing my research on some aspect of autism spectrum disorder as it relates to young children and therapies focusing on nature or animal therapies.
When she is not working in the field, Sylvia enjoys spending time with her family: her husband, Brandon, along with two children (Arthur, 10 and Josephine, 8). The four of them love to read (Tolkien’s The Hobbit is a perennial favorite), explore in the woods hunting for mushrooms and foraging for wild herbs and plants), and they have a little homestead on their city lot complete with a flock of delightfully sassy and friendly chickens and a little garden that keeps Sylvia busy throughout the summer.